Rebecca StevensMrs. ElwoodEnglish 1 / Period 68 March 2018 More Than One Kind of Hurt

In Doris Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel,” Jerry’s mom should be awarded only a six because she should be little more attentive to Jerry. She is also a little paranoid about what he would think of her if she did not please him. But no mother is perfect, so she is a good parent, especially if she is parenting by herself.

Jerry and his mom were vacationing at a beach resort and his mom could tell that Jerry was curious about something. When she asked if he wanted to go to a different beach, his request was to go to the Rocky Bay. “She gave the idea her attention. It was a wild-looking place, and there was no one there,” but she said okay anyway (93). She just does not want Jerry to think that she is worried, and she does not want to seem overprotective. She still needs to be aware of Jerry’s actions.

On the next day at the beach, the mother goes to the traditional beach, and Jerry goes to the Bay. Jerry is so far away from his mom that when he locates her among other sunbathers on the beach, she appears to be nothing more than a “speck of yellow under an umbrella that looked like a slice of orange peel” (94). A child should not be so far from people he knows, from people responsible for him or whose job it is to make sure he is safe. Honestly, anything could have happened to him because he almost drowned.​ She was eating lunch with him when she notices his head, “How did you bang your head?” “Oh, just banged it” (102). She should have pressed him for more information about how he bumped it. He could have a concussion. Asking him more would not be overprotective or paranoid; it is just being a good parent.

Robert AndrewsMrs. ElwoodEnglish 1 / Period 69 March 2018

Sometimes Hurt Kills

According to “More Than One Kind of Hurt,” Rebecca Stevens gives Jerry’s mom in Doris Lessing’s “Through the Tunnel” an overly generous six for parenting. Stevens’ misguided evaluation reflects a serious short-sightedness since the mother’s neglect almost ended up in Jerry’s death. Clearly, this mom deserves a two.

First of all, Stevens addresses the challenge of being a single mother. Children without a father might feel like they should be more attentive to a parent alone on vacation. Since Jerry’s father passed away, there is the added complication of his mother’s widowhood. Stevens points out that the mom “does not want Jerry to think that she is worried” (1), but the mom should be worried. Stevens further mentions that Jerry told his mom he wanted “to go to the Rocky Bay” (1). When Stevens admits that mom “still needs to be aware of Jerry’s actions,” she does not explain how, exactly, she should do that (1). As a matter of fact, when Jerry does go to the dangerous beach, from that distance away, his mom appears merely as a “speck of yellow under an umbrella that looked like a slice of orange peel” (Lessing 94 qtd. in Stevens). If mom, resting stationary under a bright umbrella, is that hard to see, how could she possibly pay attention to him in case he might need help? There is no lifeguard or even other swimmers on this beach.​ Then, even if she did notice a problem, how quickly could she get to him? To access this beach, Jerry started “high up among red-brown rocks” and climbed down to a bay that “spread” out “among small promontories and inlets of rough, sharp rock” (Lessing 94). In fact, he did not even mention seeing his mom until he swam out a bit. So how could this, as Stevens says, “good” mom see her son in distress and get to him in time? Even when Jerry does get injured, when his mom asked how he got a bump on his head, Jerry simply said that he “just banged it” (Stevens qtd. in Lessing 102). Stevens rightfully expresses concern for his head injury, but considering what could have happened, this concern is rather shallow. Just moments ago, While desperately attempting to get through the tunnel, Jerry “felt he was dying. He was no longer quite conscious. He struggled on in the darkness between lapses into unconsciousness” (Lessing 101). Even before entering this tunnel, he “trembl[ed] with horror at that long, long tunnel under the rock, under the sea” (Lessing 100). Jerry clearly needed a parent to move him away from this dangerous, deadly quest. While mom sunbathed, her son almost died.